


Every day I spend with you I feel a little less lonely

by skandarblackhand



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Hannibal Lecter Misses Will Graham, Hannibal Lecter is a Cannibal, Hannibal draws, Hannibal is lonely, Hannibal lectures at University, Hannibal works as a psychiatrist again, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Fall (Hannibal), Will is off doing god knows what but mentioned regularly and will return eventually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:27:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28204575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skandarblackhand/pseuds/skandarblackhand
Summary: After Hannibal and Will survived their fall and managed to evade the FBI for the first year they decide to split up for a while, a couple years at most and lay low until everything is calmed down.Hannibal soon resides in a nice house, works as a psychiatrist and is even back at the local university to hold some lectures without anyone making the connection to what happened in the states.Yet he feels so very much lonely with every passing day. He knows it is too dangerous to ask Will to come to him so he starts to look for some distraction, someone to fill this deep loneliness he never experienced before.He wanted someone that could entertain him for a while and who liked to spend time around him without being forced to do so. With no hope to find someone like this fast Hannibal begins a new and different hunt and is surprised how fast he stumbles onto someone that intrigues him after the first harmless interaction.
Relationships: Hannibal Lecter/Original Male Character(s), Hannibal/Original Male Character(s), Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

Being alone had never bothered Hannibal. There had been very few people whose company he had enjoyed for longer than a couple minutes throughout his life and he had never even entertained the thought of needing someone. There had been a few outliers of course, his sister and now recently Will of course. 

But now, after he and Will had split up to hopefully let even the last trails the FBI had on them die, he felt so very lonely every hour of every day. Nothing seemed to bring him joy anymore. Not picking back up his profession, not lecturing at a nearby university, not even cooking and drawing. His heart longed for Will. 

And Will was the one thing he could not have now. He knew that this was only temporary. It would be only a couple years until they could meet again, until they would be back together and until nobody could split them up again ever again. Yet until then he was all alone. Nobody to cook for, nobody to spend time with, nobody that understood him like Will did. 

After another dull, awfully boring dinner night with several of his colleagues and their wives, he slowly cleared the dessert from the table and considered his next steps. There was a literal line of people dying to be invited to his dinner parties and yet no even one of these persons was interesting in the slightest and he was not sure how many more evenings he could spend in such company. 

And it wasn’t even that they were stupid but most were just so convinced in their own intelligence while the others tried to show of their superiority in every way they could and Hannibal hated both of them. He did not mind someone knowing he was intelligent but being so convinced that everything out of their mouths was spun gold and should be absorbed by everyone else like facts irked him to no end. Alas he sadly would not be able to kill one of them. It would draw far too much attention to this little city, attention he did not want or need. 

This however could not continue like this. As he was standing in his kitchen, drinking a last glass of Chianti after he had cleaned up, he considered his options.   
It would be highly unlikely to find someone that could fill this emptiness inside him like Will did. It was even unlikely he would find someone that could entertain him for more than a couple weeks. He would need to find someone different. Someone that was intelligent and could keep up with him, someone interesting and he could work on the rest. There were many people in their twenties around, getting their degrees at the university, building their first life and maybe he would find someone he could shape to what he needed. 

He immediately discarded the students that were in his course as neither had done anything to garner his attention until now.   
Hannibal wasn’t even sure he would find someone at the university. Minds like his and Will were rare and they rarely took a linear path in life that took them to university. 

Yet he had to start somewhere and this was the most easy one. It also gave him some more time to decide what he was actually looking for. He generally did not strive the easy path often but for now this was a good starting point. After all it was said there should be the elite of the population in his place of work. He had made other observations but there had been some outliers. 

The next day Hannibal could barely contain his snarl whenever one of his colleagues came up to him to comment on his dinner party and ask when the next one would be. He gave very non-committal answers. After all he had to be in the mood for a dinner party. And he needed the right ingredients.  
After the first week Hannibal had scrapped the rest of his department as well. He could not stand any of them for longer than five minutes without the urge to bash their skull in and even the thought of inviting one of them in his house make him sick. 

To look around in the other departments he probably would need to wait for the next bigger party. A problem he already considered was that as a professor even at these parties he would meet the other lecturers and professors and not the young people he would like to get to know. He wanted someone younger, someone he could teach a thing or two and someone who would be open to some necessary changes. 

Still deep in thought over his quest Hannibal made his way home without paying much attention. The streets were empty this late and within a couple miles he would be on the private road to his manor where he could do whatever he wanted. 

First however he needed to stop for gas. He stopped by the outermost gaspump and exited the car, choosing to leave his coat of for the couple minutes it would take him to pump gas. He pulled out his monogrammed handkerchief so he wouldn’t have to touch the grimy pump with his bare hands and waited impatiently for the gas to pump. 

He then entered the little shop of the gas station. Behind the counter sat a young man, slouched over a laptop and an open can of some off-brand energy drink by his side. When he heard the door however he eagerly got up and greeted Hannibal politely and with a big grin. 

While the young man rang him up, Hannibal looked around the shop with thinly veiled disgust. If this wouldn’t be the nearest gas station without camera surveillance and the ability to pay everything in cash, he would never set a foot in there. It might not be necessary anymore to not have credit cards in his name or avoid the cameras but Hannibal did not like to be sloppy. 

He finally took a look at the young mans laptop and noticed some dead pixels in one corner and saw the logo of his university on the site. A student.   
The young man finished the transaction and ripped Hannibal out of his thought as he handed him back the change and the receipt.

“Anything else I can help you with?” The young man asked the stranger in his three-piece suit and noticed him hesitate shortly before taking the money.  
“No. Thank you.” Hannibal simply answered, turned and left the store, the cheerful goodbye of the young man following him outside. He put the change back into his wallet and drove away. Maybe there was hope to find someone at the university he liked.


	2. Chapter 2

It took only a week until Hannibal had to return to the gas station to get some gas. He had to drive huge distances to get the quality of ingredients he desired and there were few vendors who even considered delivering. 

He arrived later than last time but as the gas station was open 24/7 he didn’t need to worry about arriving too late. When he finished pumping the gas and cleaned his hands properly he entered the shop.

The scene was almost identical as last time. The young man sat slouched over his laptop, the energy drink by his side and got up eagerly as soon as he heard the door. His smile broadened considerably as he recognized Hannibal and he cheerfully greeted the man. He enjoyed seeing people again and he loved when customers came to distract him from his assignments, even when it just was for a couple minutes. 

While the young man completed the transaction Hannibal took a look at his laptop once again. This time he seemed to write something. What grabbed his attention however was the nametag of the young man, which he hadn’t had the last time. Or at least he hadn’t worn it. 

When the young man handed him back the change and the receipt he once again asked, if there was anything else he needed. 

Hannibal was not a passive man. And even though he couldn’t yet pinpoint what exactly he found so interesting in this young man but he would be a fool to bypass such a chance to talk and see if his first impression would hold up. 

The young man seemed to have a similar train of thought, he did however interpret Hannibals look on his nametag wrongly for the man looking at his sweatshirt.   
“I know that look!” He said smiling, not caring about the other man’s slightly bewildered look.

“Only people knowing our university have this look.” He continued, grinning widely. 

Hannibal, although he hadn’t looked at the sweatshirt as he already knew that the young man was seemingly attending this university had to agree. While it was a good university, with many good departments it certainly had its unique quirks.

He slowly inclined his head. 

“I cannot disagree with that.” 

His answer got met with an even bigger smile if possible. 

“Anything else I can do for you?” The young man asked again, not really knowing what else to say. 

“Not this time, thank you.” Hannibal looked at the nametag again. “Haakon.” He left, being followed by a cheerful goodbye that made him smile in secret.   
The young man still grinned as he sat back down and continued his work. This new patron was for sure the most interesting fellow he had met since he started working here. And already he found himself hoping that the man would come when he once again sat here all night, waiting for customers. 

Although he actually didn’t sit around a ton. He usually did some work for university until he was tired and then laid down in the back room to get some sleep. There weren’t a lot of customers during the night and there was a very annoying bell whenever somebody entered the shop. Annoying enough that it ripped him out of every sleep phase. And the owner came in at seven a.m. giving him enough time to go home and shower before he had to be at his first lecture. He generally tended to put his lectures in the afternoon if he could. Sadly not all his professors shared this sentiment and he had a good deal of nice eight a.m. lectures that were hell for him. 

When he left this morning however he was in good spirits. He had talked to the owner before leaving and had of course asked after the man. The owner had just said that he seemed to live up in the manor now and came by regularly to get gas. The owner also warned Haakon to not bother the customers, to which the young man just grinned and left. 

He stopped quickly at home to change and shower and cursed his bad luck of having no hot water. He had no idea why every time he hoped for hot water he didn’t have some. He had hot water on weekends, in the evening, all throughout the day but not in the morning when he would need it and especially not when he was in a hurry. It was like it was cursed. 

Still unhappy about the cold shower but at least awake, Haakon went to university. He parked his car and slung his backbag over his shoulder considering if he would have enough time to get coffee before the lecture started. His thoughts got derailed as a car he was certainly already familiar with, drove onto the parking space. He had admired that car two times already and he had to say it looked even better in daylight. 

When the man got out of the car and looked as dapper as ever Haakon just grinned and waved, getting a stern look in return, which he answered with a smile.   
Maybe the owner of the gas station was right and he shouldn’t bother the customers. Especially when he met them outside of work. However he couldn’t talk with half the university anymore if that was a reason to stop talking to people. 

Not bothering to actually stop and annoy the man he went to his lecture, not ending up getting his coffee. His best friend however seemed have expected as such and already poured him some coffee as he came through the doors.

“You’re a lifesaver.” He told his friend before downing the coffee.

“I know. How was work?” 

“Boring. The guy with the Bentley came by again. He also seems to work here, just saw him in the parking lot.”

“Oh that’s a dangerous crush to have.” Haakons friend teased and Haakon scoffed. 

“Crush? You wish. Only crush I have is on that car.”

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that, pretty boy.” Haakon only rolled his eyes at his friend and had him refill his cup of coffee. 

They didn’t speak much more during the lecture or the next one, but instead of going to get lunch they went to look at the Bentley.

“That really is a nice car.” Haakons friend decided.

“Told you so.”

When they left to get some lunch after all, both still thought about that car. That was by far the nicest car they had ever seen in their whole lives.   
Only at their drive home, they revisited their topic from lunch.

“You know if he really works at university, his face and name gonna be somewhere on that faculty member site.”

“And?”

“Aren’t you even a little curious who that guy is?”

Haakon kept his eyes on the street.

“Maybe a little.” He finally admitted and his friend grinned. So instead of just dropping his friend off at his flat Haakon parked the car and they went inside, got some beer from the fridge and sat down in front of the computer.

“You know normal people would be doing something useful now.” Haakon remarked.

“Keep your mouth shut and look at the pictures.” His friend just grinned.

“Why are you even that interested? It’s not like you have ever seen him.” Haakon was still kind of unwilling to start stalking that man. He knew his friend, the name was only the first thing he would be interested in.

“But you have. And I haven’t seen you that interested since you had that crush on that girl when we were fourteen.” Haakon grumbled something.   
He did however look at the staff pictures with his friend until they found the guy.

“Hannibal Lecter.” Haakon read and stared at the picture. It was immaculate as he expected.

“What a weird name.” His friend just commented and opened another tab to search for the name. This was Haakon cue to go and leave his friend to spend his night stalking a random guy with a nice car. He didn’t even answer when Haakon said goodbye.


	3. Chapter 3

Haakon woke up the next morning to a slew of text messages that were unravelling the mystery of Hannibal Lecter in live timing. Four hundred and eighteen messages and half of them were single words in capslock and bad pictures of his friends screen.

Haakon just groaned and threw his phone on the other side of his bed. He didn’t want to deal with his friends new obsession. He also was upset that his friend had to just pick this one to obsess over. He would have been perfectly fine with crushing on that guys car and the guy as well and pursue him.

But now with his friends obsession over it, he knew that it would go bad. His friend never managed to keep his obsession to himself and Haakon dreaded the day his friend would go up to Lecter and start asking him stupid questions.

With no hope that it would help at all he called his friend.

“Did you read my messages?” Was the first thing his friend asked and Haakon cringed.

“No. Victor, I don’t want to be part of another of your obsessions. Leave that guy alone and find something else to do.”

“I can’t do that. You don’t have any idea what there is out there about Lecter. You really need to read my messages.”

“Yeah, I won’t. And if you can’t stop doing that, don’t tell me about it. I have no interest in any of that. Find something better to do.”

“I just wanted to help you.”

“I don’t need help.” Haakon fought the urge to roll his eyes as Victor ended the call. Of course that idiot wouldn’t stop. He muted his phone and sat down to do some work to distract himself. He had to work in the evening and he wanted to at least finish the things he needed more than his laptop for at home.

He wasn’t even at work for half an hour when he saw a familiar car stop outside and he groaned in desperation. He hadn’t answered any message so of course the logical thing for Victor was to bother him at his job.

He had a folder with him. A fucking huge folder.

“Why can’t you just leave it.” Haakon greeted his friend who shot him a big smile.

“Because it’s insane what I found. You have to see this.”

“I don’t want to.”

“You have to.” Victor insisted. “You found probably the most interesting man in the whole country to have a crush on.”

“I don’t have a crush on him.” Haakon objected once again.

“Yeah, yeah, you don’t have a crush on anybody and you only drool over that car. I know. But there is a lot you need to see and all of it is insane.”

“Just leave it, I beg you. I really don’t need to know anything about that guy.”

“No. Now stop whining and look at that.”

Haakon did not look. Instead he told his friend to leave the store and not bother him again with any of that.

And once again Victor didn’t listen, until Haakon physically threw him out and the folder and the nearest trash can and closed the door in his friends face, fuming in anger.

“That won’t stop me, Haakon. You’ll regret not listening to me!” Victor decided to play the drama queen, pulled the folder out the trash can and left. He didn’t despair. Haakon always had been a stubborn idiot and he would relent at some point.

In the meantime he however not only had to find out more but make sure that Haakon didn’t actually do anything but have a crush on that guy. The problem however was that Haakon was usually quick on acting on his crushes.

He hadn’t had a lot of crushes over the years, the general consensus seemed that it was pretty hard to get his attention and the ones he had been interested in hadn’t been very long-lived. Victor knew that his friend just was too far up his own ass most times to even notice flirting until it was all but subtle. He knew of only a handful of boys and girls over the years that Haakon had been seriously interested in and this Hannibal Lecter was leagues above all of them. If one ignored all that killing people thing of course.

Victor sighed as he found himself back at his first thought. He had to stop Haakon from acting on this damn crush before anything would happen. If that stubborn guy would at least listen to him.

Haakon was still fuming over his friends gall and spent the next couple hours doing anything to get his mind off it. Which for sure wasn’t school work. Instead he did everything around the shop that needed to be done and then did all the useless stuff that wasn’t necessary. At least the whole shop was spotless after that.

Then finally he sat down to do his actual work and opened an energy drink because he already had a damn headache from not enough caffeine today. At the same time he was thinking about Hannibal Lecter. He was interested he couldn’t lie and he knew that the man would eventually come back to the gas station and he would have his chance to keep him long enough to strike up a conversation.

He however had no idea how he would do that. Just asking him something would probably not work that great because he was known to ask the weirdest questions when put on the spot.

He could bring his chessboard. Lecter for sure played chess that was a game that was just great for a guy like that.

He however was a total loser at chess. Never in his life he had won a game. And although he knew how everything moved he never seemed to be able to plan more moves than the one he had to do or react appropriately to whatever the other player did.

His dad had given up trying to teach him the game after he lost to the same trick four times in a row. He did inherit his fathers chessboard though and Haakon still wasn’t sure if it was a joke.

But he would just embarrass himself if he would bring his chess board. So he needed something else. Something smart. Something not pretentious if he could manage.

Haakon looked back at his laptop screen. He really should do his work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hannibal regained his vigor almost immediately. Within days he had planned the next dinner party. And although it would be just as dull as the other ones he found he didn’t mind. Soon he would have a dinner guest that would make up every single dull dinner party he had thrown. He had never been wrong about anyone he had met and he would enjoy Haakons company immensely.

And even if he didn’t live up to Hannibals expectation. Well he always would need more ingredients for his dinners.

As always his dinner was a huge success. And he even seemed to be able to bear all the stupid peacocking of his guests better.

After the dinner party was over and Hannibal had a lonely drink in his library and had to fight the urge to go and see if Haakon was working this night. There was no reason for him to go out the house, there was no reason to go find company now. Soon enough he wouldn’t be alone anymore.

Three days later however he found himself forced to stop for gas. Not that he minded. He had been on quite a long trip after work to get some ingredients and it was already late at night when he pulled into the gas station.

Before he could even stop the car fully, the door to the shop opened and Haakon stepped out. He came to the passenger seat window and motioned to Hannibal to roll the window down. Hannibal did of course.

“You’ll have to use the second pump, the first one’s died a couple hours ago.” Haakon motioned to the pump he meant and grinned at Hannibal.

“But I’m gonna pump your gas for your trouble.” He added and shot the man another smile. Hannibal didn’t mind and manoeuvred to the pump Haakon had indicated to him. The young man followed him and did as he said, while Hannibal still left the car. He would have to pay and this was a perfect opportunity for a conversation.

Haakon however was faster once again.

“Aren’t you afraid to hit a deer or something with that car at night? I mean it’s probably a nightmare to try and get that fixed if you have to.”

“I tend to drive very carefully.” Hannibal answered and Haakon seemed to accept the answer.

Sadly their conversation had to stop at that point as they went inside to finish up the transaction, Haakon holding open the door for the man and cleaning his hands with a rag before getting behind the counter. Hannibal handed him the money and glanced at the man’s laptop screen. This time it seemed to be some sort of mathematical work.

“Working on a mathematics degree?” He asked Haakon who had followed his glance and the man grimaced.

“No, computer science. Math’s the bane of my existence.”

Hannibal pulled up one eyebrow. It seemed rather unintuitive for him to choose a degree that was known to be quite heavy on mathematics if he didn’t like the subject.

“Yeah I chose to suffer through it. The rest is pretty neat.” Haakon explained unprompted and handed Hannibal the change and the receipt back.

Neither of them lingered any longer. Hannibal said goodbye and was once again followed out the door by a cheerful goodbye.

He slid into his car and wanted to put the change back in the wallet he noticed that he not only got the receipt but another note.

He turned it around.

_Dinner on Wed, 20:00 at Double Blank Rounds_

_8760 – 23336777 Call me. H_

Haakons handwriting was a utter and complete disaster. He started every word with a letter double the size of the rest of the word and got smaller and smaller with each letter. His numbers weren’t better. Nearly each one was written over several times until the man seemed sure that somebody else than him could actually read them. And the H was once again huge, none of the lines met and one trailed off to the end of the paper as if he had slipped.

Still Hannibal couldn’t help but smile and tucked the piece of paper away in his pocket.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning Victor and Haakon met at their lecture. Haakon had been on time and had gotten himself and his friend coffee and couldn’t help himself but smile broadly.

When Victor saw him, he knew exactly what had happened.

“You didn’t ask him out, did you?” He asked Haakon and the grin he got in return was answer enough.

“You are such an idiot.”

“Thanks.” Haakon just answered, nothing could dampen his mood today.

Victor spent the rest of the day trying to get out of Haakon what exactly he had said, where they would go and when. He needed to know how much time he had to get Haakon to change his mind. And he cursed himself that he left the folder in his car and when he left Haakon during lunch to get it, Haakon disappeared somewhere and only met Victor back at their next lecture.

When Haakon saw the folder he threatened to throw it in the trash again and Victor clutched the folder to his chest in overexaggerated shock.

“How about you look at only one page I want to show you. For me.” Victor continued to annoy his friend. 

“No.”

“But-“

“No!” Haakon hissed a bit too loud and he got a dirty look from their professor. He quickly apologized and ignored Victor for the rest of the lecture.

Victor was trailing after him like a lost puppy for the rest of the day, trying every angle he could think of to get Haakon to cancel their date. It seemed that it only made Haakon more determined to ignore him and go forward with the date.

After Haakon drove off after another threat of throwing his folder away Victor resorted to texting and calling but Haakon was used to ignoring him. Only selectively at least because when he asked him for some lecture notes he sent them over immediately.

While driving home Haakon was still pissed at Victor. He had bothered him all day and he couldn’t hear it anymore.

When his phone rang Haakon tensed up massively. He hated phone calls while driving. He already wanted to decline the call, thinking it was Victor, when he noticed that it was a phone number he hadn’t saved in his phone.

So he did pick up.

_“Hello.”_

_“Hello Haakon.”_ Haakon had heard this voice only two times before but he knew exactly who it was.

Hannibal continued before Haakon had the chance to answer.

_“I simply wanted to confirm the date and time of our dinner.”_

_“Yeah, yeah sure. I hope you aren’t busy?”_ Haakon practically stumbled over his words.

_“No. I am looking forward to seeing you.”_

_“Me too.”_

Hannibal wished him a nice evening and ended the call before Haakon could say anything back. He struggled to concentrate on the road and threw his phone on the passenger seat. Thankfully he was on an pretty empty road.

He had to grin over his own surprise. And that he stammered like a three-year-old. Even though he had given Lecter his phone number the call had surprised him. But now he didn’t need to worry if Lecter would show up on Wednesday.

As soon as he parked the car he grabbed his phone and saved Lecters phone number in his contacts as Dr. Lecter.

He spent the rest of his day on work for university and sent Victor some notes he asked for. It was his friends luck that he didn’t write his notes by hand. He always had bad handwriting but it had gotten considerably worse since he was at university. It was a culmination of not having to write a lot anymore, lacking practice and needing a certain speed for when he had to write something. He could read it at least. Most of the time. If he remembered what it was about.

The next day Victor changed his tactic.

“So when’s your date?” He asked cheerfully, handing Haakon a cup of coffee.

Haakon only eyed him with some suspicion.

“This week.” He finally answered, not wanting to fully disclose when he would be out. It wouldn’t take Victor long to find out the restaurant and mess with something if he knew the date.

“What are you going to do? A nice walk in the park? Maybe kill a hobo?”

Haakon gave Victor a massive side-eye after the last question.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” He asked in clear bewilderment.

But before Victor could even open his mouth Haakon stalked of, shaking his head. Victor followed him as they had the same lecture but he seemed to have gotten the clue for now and didn’t bring it up again.

“What are you going to wear?”

“Don’t know yet.” Haakon didn’t show it but it had been on his mind for a couple days now. From what he had seen of Lecter the man was always impeccable dressed. Perfectly right down to how he laced his shoes. He would have to pull out all registers to keep up with him.

“Need any help?”

“No I don’t think so.” Haakon answered after considering. He often had asked Victor for some advice but he figured he would wear a suit either way and that restricted his choice a lot already.

The rest of the day they talked about everything but their point of contention. Victor decided to not bring it up anymore for now. And if Haakon would still be alive after the first date he would have more time to get that stubborn donkey to listen to him.

Haakon had to work that evening and arrived perfectly on time as always and spent a lonely and boring night at the gas station, doing some work and then going to sleep. He was a tad disappointed that Lecter did not come by. And felt stupid by his own disappointment.

The next morning however he was up and ready for the day. Only a couple more hours until their date. He hoped it would go well for sure.

Victor supplied him with coffee in the morning and prodded once again on the location and day of the date. Haakon kept silent for every question in this direction but couldn’t really hide his excitement for the evening and Victor soon guessed it was today.

His next words however surprised not only Haakon but himself as well.

“I hope you have fun.” Haakon seemed rather shocked and just answered.

“I hope so too.”

“But tell your date I know that you were last seen with him in case you don’t turn up tomorrow.” Victor couldn’t help but add.

After their day at university was over they both went home.

Haakon checked his watch. He would have time to just squeeze an hour of work for university in before he would have to get ready. Brewing himself a cup of coffee he sat down on his desk but was rather distracted the whole time.

After he had checked the time six times in twenty-four minutes Haakon sighed and went to get ready. He couldn’t concentrate either way anymore and maybe a hot shower would help his nervousness.

At least he had hot water at this time of day, this morning he had had a cold shower once again. He had to speak to the landlord about that at some point.

After his shower he stepped out and quickly dried himself off, rubbing his hair dry and blow-drying it before he went into his room to dress.

He pulled out his black suit, hung it up on the outside of his wardrobe and went to search for a shirt and tie to match.

White shirt and black tie gave Haakon such funeral vibes that he didn’t really want to do it if he could find something else. He had some shirts, a couple shades of blue, ruby red, but no real fitting tie to them.

Finally after several tries of holding different shirts and ties to the suit and considering what somebody as well dressed as Lecter would say to them he settled on a charcoal dress shirt and a charcoal tie, that was a shade lighter than his shirt. He didn’t have a pocket square so that fell flat as well.

He put on underwear, socks and pants and shined his shoes before he put on his shirt, tucked it into his pants and made sure there weren’t any weird creases, then he went back in the bathroom, opening the window to let the rest of the steam out and do something with his hair. He considered shaving again and stared at himself in his mirror. Sighing he did shave again, because he did already have a scruff look. He brushed his teeth, taking care that nothing dropped on his shirt and styled his hair, making it lay exactly like he wanted it to.

After tying his tie and putting his jacket on he checked everything again in the mirror. He probably looked as well as he could and wondered if Lecter would be at least a little bit impressed. Haakon scoffed. Probably not.

He collected his phone and wallet and left, putting on his shoes on just before the door. He would be pretty much on time. A little bit early maybe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hannibal saved Haakons number in his phone as soon as he was home. That he so easily got access to his phone number bode well for the future. He did not even have to ask, instead he practically got handed what he wanted. A date and a phone number.

It was unusual for him not being the active part in the beginning of a relationship but he decided that he did not mind for now. He could simply take a more active role in furthering this relationship should this date go as well as he hoped. If not he would have to search for someone else.

On Monday he decided to call to affirm his availability for Wednesday and found it quite amusing when he heard Haakon practically stutter out the few words he said. It was interesting hearing him so flustered, as he had sounded very confident until now.

As Wednesday came around Hannibal had planned everything carefully. After meeting his last client he laid out his clothes and went to shower.

Hannibal wore a grey three piece suit with a muted red quadratic pattern and wide lapels, a white shirt and pocket square and a white tie with rose-red flowers and swirls printed on them.

He checked himself in the mirror after dressing but was satisfied with the result and left. He would be perfectly on time as always.

The drive to the restaurant was quiet. At this time of day there was practically no one on the streets anymore. It was relaxing to drive for sure and Hannibal considered what he knew about their dinner location. He had been there before and they had good food, not as good as his own of course but very much acceptable.

He saw Haakon just getting out of his car as he rolled into the parking lot and chose a parking space right by his date.

“Looking sharp, Doctor Lecter!” He called instead of a greeting and Hannibal could see the heat rise in his face as his brain seemed to catch on what he had just said.

He allowed himself to smile.

“Good evening Haakon.” He only said instead of commenting the other mans greeting.

Haakon smiled again, this time more sheepishly as he came around his car.

“I probably should preventively apologize for all the stupid things I will say tonight, Doctor Lecter.”

“Nonsense. You have nothing to apologize for.”

Hannibal placed his hand on Haakons lower back, a not so subtle cue to make their way into the restaurant.

“And please, call me Hannibal.”

They entered the restaurant and were cheerily greeted by the hostess and lead upstairs to the more secluded dining area. As the bar was on the ground floor it could get rather loud and distracting.

The inside of the restaurant and the walk up the stairs gave Hannibal ample time to look over Haakon. The younger man had clearly put thought into his appearance today and was clad out perfectly in a black suit with a charcoal shirt and a charcoal tie. Even his shoes had clearly been polished to perfection.

It made Hannibal happy that Haakon had made this effort. At their first meetings Haakon had always been dressed well but this was an effort that was distinctively better than his normal appearance.

They got shown their table and sat down, getting the menus, Hannibal got handed the wine list additionally.

Haakon opened his menu but barely glanced at it and pretty much flipped through it much rather eyeing Hannibal over the edge of his menu.

“Have you already chosen?” Hannibal asked Haakon while considering the options that would be good.

“Pretty much. I find myself to constantly ordering the same things at restaurants I occasionally go to.”

“Not very adventurous?”

“Not if I don’t know if it’ll be good. If one of my friends, well the ones that know how to cook, says they are going to try something new, I’ll be the first in line to try. But in restaurants you never know. Although I here it’s pretty safe to order anything.”

Haakon glanced down on his menu again, considering if he should pick something else.

“So what will it be?” Hannibal interrupted him and Haakon looked back up, a bit puzzled.

“I do have to choose the wine that pairs well to our meals.” The man gave him an explanation.

“Oh yeah sure.” Haakon glanced down on his menu again.

“I’ll go with the venison.” He told Hannibal who showed no reaction to his choice which caused him to doubt his choice immediately. Haakon had no idea why exactly he was so uneasy today. Maybe he was just nervous. It was Hannibals fault, that Haakon knew without a doubt. Never before he had been that nervous at a first date.

When the waitress came to take their order, both she and Hannibal expectantly looked at Haakon to go first and the younger man fumbled while closing his menu but at least actually got out what he wanted to say without having to look again.

The flatbread and the venison was his wish.

The Caesars Salad and the Venison was Hannibals.

With a bottle of Pinot Noir.

The waitress asked them if they wanted to order dessert but both men declined politely, she got their menus and the wine list and left them alone.

Hannibal poured both of them a glass of water and smiled at Haakon.

Their wait until their starters came was spent with enjoyable chit-chat. Talking about university, about Haakons studies and Hannibals work, getting to know the most basic things of each other. It was pleasant although a bit dull but neither wanted to start a heavy discussion before they even reached the main course.

Their waitress was kind of hovering near them for most of the time. There weren’t too many guests but she still, obviously was around their table constantly. Haakon ignored her mostly, only answering politely when she asked if everything was okay. After all he was interested in Hannibal.

Right as their main course came, Hannibal poured both of them their second glass of wine. It was an exceptionally good year this bottle.

They got their plates and ate the first few bites in silence.

“That dish is just so amazing. That taste of the venison is so much better than anything else.” Haakon commented.

Hannibal considered shortly.

“Venison allows us to taste what our ancestors tasted, assuring part of their survival by supplementing their crops with meat they did not have to raise and feed. It gives us a deeper understanding of their lives and their taste.”

Hannibal took another bite.

“They for the most part, especially in our part of the world have always been wild animals that are hunted for their meat and as trophies and not raised for slaughter like our normal meal choices. It also means that they to this day fear the hunter. We work tirelessly to humanly kill the animals we eat and yet this one we still hunt the same. We watch them, we lure them to places by feeding them and we kill them. And like we share this experience of hunting and consuming this meat with our ancestors, they share the fear of their ancestors of the hunters coming for them at every second of the day. The absolute terror it must be for them when one of them just drops dead in their midst, once again killed by their silent and deadly predator. Fear that causes them to jolt away with every unfamiliar sound and that taints every movement of their lives.”

Haakon stared at Hannibal for a couple seconds while chewing and his eyes jumped up as their waitress went by their table rather fast and without stopping for the first time this evening and he unsuccessfully tried to hide a smile.

“I’m sorry.” He finally said. “She just looked at you right now as if you grew a second head and antlers.”

He took another bite and chewed carefully, thinking about what Hannibal had just told him.

“Doesn’t fear ruin the meat?” He finally asked.

“How would you know in an animal in which this happened for centuries?” Hannibal threw a rhetorical question back in his face and Haakon scrunched his face up shortly, thinking about it.

“Maybe that’s just part of why we like it.” He tossed out. That whole conversation was something he never thought about but somehow fitted exactly with his date. It would be weirder talking about normal things with the man opposite him.

Hannibal Lecter was far from normal, Haakon knew this already but he found he didn’t care. This was interesting and compelling and seductive. Something that could swallow him whole if he got to close. He always was somebody to toe the line and this relationship would not end here.

As Hannibal didn’t directly answer Haakon decided to pile on his point a bit more. Just for fun of course.

“After all we only start to think of the sake of the animals when we can afford to do so.”

While Hannibal seemed to consider his words or at least finished chewing to give an answer, Haakon thought about what he just said. It surely sounded a lot more pretentious than he intended it to be.

“It is in our nature to put our survival above all else.” Hannibal answered him but was interrupted by their waitress who came to ask if everything was okay. Both of the men noticed her keeping her back towards Hannibal and only really talking to Haakon.

The two men told her once again, that everything was perfect and she left, Hannibal poured them the rest of the wine.

“It seems you quickly deterred any interest she had in you.” Haakon told his dinner partner. Hannibals eyebrow rose up in a perfect arch.

“I did not think for a second this evening that it was me she was interested in.”

The expression he was met with was absolutely puzzled. Haakon furrowed his brows, cocking his head to the side while he seemed to think about what Hannibal had just told him. The realization was almost comical.

“What? No-“ Was the man’s very intelligent answer.

“Who would do that when you are here?” Haakon finally managed to put his wonder in words.

Hannibal certainly considered this a compliment.

As they had been ripped out of their conversation they changed topics and did not get as philosophical again.

After they finished their dinner and wine the waitress was rather quick bringing them the check.

Haakon reached for it and wanted to pull it to him, when Hannibals hand suddenly was on top of his and their eyes met. They stared at each other for three seconds until Hannibal pulled the check to him. Haakon already opened his mouth to protest, but Hannibal would not hear it.

“I insist.” He only said and paid giving the waitress a good tip. He couldn’t really blame her for being smitten with his date and she had done a very good job. And she clearly had gotten the clue that Haakon was not interested and did not try again.

Both of them rose at the same time, buttoning their jackets closed and leaving the restaurant. Haakon held open the door for Hannibal and waited for the man to catch up, letting it fall closed after him.

“That was an amazing dinner.” He said and Hannibal agreed, his hand once again settling against Haakons lower back to get him to get going. They didn’t need to stand directly in front of the door. He didn’t take his hand away however.

They stopped at their cars and turned to face each other.

“So do you want to plan a second date?” Haakon asked the other man with a grin. He certainly wanted to hear a resounding yes to that question.

“Of course. Do you have anything in mind?” Hannibal asked showing his own smile.

“I have no idea. I’ll probably could come up with something if you give me a couple days.”

“I think I shall invite you to dinner.” Hannibal said.

“You can cook?” Haakon sounded more surprised than he intended to. A guy with such a taste surely was an amazing cook.

“Of course. I do need a couple days to decide on a menu and gather all necessary ingredients, but I shall let you know when the time is right for a dinner.”

“Sounds great.” Haakon smiled again. He did wonder if he should kiss Hannibal. He probably would even be buzzed enough to say it was just a stupid mistake.

They parted without a kiss on this evening. Wishing each other safe travels home they left the parking lot seconds apart but drove off in different directions, both their thoughts being about the other.

Haakon found that the date had went great. They had had lots to talk about and the conversation had been incredible pleasant. He now was even more fascinated with Hannibal. There was so much more he wanted to know and learn about the man.

Hannibals thoughts were very similar. Certainly the date had been a success. Haakon proved a very capable conversation partner with his own opinions and insights.

He could not waste too much time on what had already happened however. He had a dinner to plan. Being at his house would certainly make for a far more relaxed atmosphere without any waitresses or anyone else that tried to get Haakon attention. Except him of course.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all I'd like to apologize for the long wait for this chapter! January and February have proven to be more stressful than expected and the chapter also was more difficult to finish.  
> But there is quite a bit happening there. The first date, the first real conversation, the first boundary stomp.   
> Hope you enjoyed!


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